Crown removing Limit tourneys (oh, and Aussie Millions schedule released)

[HipHopBandit]

I know this might not be popular, but what happened to limit tournaments at Crown?
The 2011 Aussie Millions Schedule has just been released (view it here) & there are no limit events on the schedule at all! I know that limit holdem or omaha hi-lo or HORSE is not going to get the 500+ fields that some NLHE events have been able to attract, but what is the logic for removing these events from the schedule altogether?
To give you some idea of the history, some events that have disappeared between 2007 & 2011:
Limit Omaha hi-lo (held 2007, 2009)
Limit Holdem (held 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
2 card Manila (held 2007, 2008, 2009)
7-card stud (held 2008, 2010)
HORSE (held 2008, 2009, 2010)
In 2011 the only events that feature ANY limit poker are the two 8-game events ... which of course include NLHE.
Crown ... why do you dislike limit tournaments so much??

[MrMaxwell]

I have nothing against limit but it just does not get the numbers.....just like limit hardly gets a run as a cash game any day of the week.

[bazooka87]

lol that's a pretty weird schedule.
looooooooooooooool why would you put the 10k heads up on day two of the main

[thret]

Two 8-Games is hot though. The 10k is obviously replacing the 10k HORSE which is fine, but there should be a 1k HORSE somewhere in there. Not having a HORSE seems wierd.

Also a pure PLO8 or LO8 event would be ideal as that is all I have any kind of edge in. I liked the S/S8/Razz event of previous years too, that was unique to Crown I think and it is a shame to drop it.

It doesn't make any sense to drop Manila because we are basically the only country that plays it. It is 'our' game.

So yeah,

[PetrosMiyagi]

This schedule is pretty poor IMO, compared to years past that is

My opinion on it runs closely to that of Threts. I don't mind the straight swap of the Horse events to 8 game events, but why sacrifice the PLO 8 event, and the limit holdem event for 550 NL tournies, to which there are 3 of? It is dissapointing to see a diverse schedule of tournaments make way for cheaper tournaments to attract bigger field numbers. I thought this series was meant to be the elite series of the year, rather than one to attract recreational players, for which there are many series for throughout the year

This also occured last year when the was a scheduled 1100 Mixed Holdem event which made way for a straight 1100 NL holdem event instead.

Why have two shootouts? You couldn't even sell 90 seats to the 550 pokerpro one last year, now there is a 1k "live" shootout, which i couldnt see getting 90 ppl?

With the 6 handed, why one 1100 and one 2200? I love the idea of having more 6 handed tourneys, but this is essentialy having two identical tourneys on the schedule, why not have one 1100 and one higher one, like a 5500

Also, yer, the 10k HU on day 2 is pretty lol

I can understand the redudancy of the Manila and Stud tournies as they couldn't attract a field of 30+ people

Personally, I would love to see a PLO8 event, or even better, a mixed Omaha Hilo event. Also, a mixed holdem event would be pretty sweet. I would like to see events like this take place in the event 10 and 11 slots of the series, to attract the bigger fields.
Seems like a 550 event or a teams event can take place earlier in the series as i would hardly think the bigger names would be lining up to play these events when they are down

[tsapy]

As stated, it's likely because of the lack of numbers.

The 10k PLO event had only 3 tables this year, so replacing that with a 5k PLO is a logical decision.

On a related note, there's an Aussie Millions special feature in the Pokernews magazine. Lots of people at the WSOP are talking about it. I get asked about it and about Australia in general, every time I sit down to play a cash game.

[itsover9000]

yep mega fail by crown here.

also wasn't the rake on the main 500$ last year? You greedy bastards!

[Strong Play]

Going off what I remember from reading it a few days ago:

*The extra $100 rake on the 10k and 5k events is a disgrace unless Crown can give us a specific reason as to why it has increased (im 90% sure the 5k's were 5200 last year but will cheerfully withdraw the above if they were indeed 5300)

*The 10k H/U on day 2 doesn't make an iota of sense

*I like the PLO buyins, 1k and 5k is good.

*Not having a single limit tourney doesnt make any difference to me, as I would not have played any of them; but I think there probably should have been a LHE tourney (not certain how many it got last year, but recall it being "enough")

*Agree that 1100 and 2200 6max makes little sense... I think 1650/5300 or 1100/3200 or something like that would have been better, but more 6max tourneys will keep the aggro losers happy irrrrrrregardless of buyin, so that's a positive I suppose.

*8 game is the new HORSE, I think eventually HORSE will die out.

*The shootouts are good, every series should have more shootouts... heck, the main event should be a shootout... (note, no sarcasm here, shootouts are the king of tournaments).

*I'm undecided on whether the Manila tournament should run; obv it gets less runners than anything, but then there's the whole Australia thing... I think it prob should run, if for no other reason than to see Antonis Kambouroglou raise yet another trophy.

*I cant remember whether the price for the 1k sats has changed to 1160 or not, anyone?

*The bounty event right at the conclusion of the schedule appears weird, but I can only assume it is to line up with other stuff that is being televised...

[thret]

PLO8/LO8 mix is a pretty good idea PetrosMiyagi, I'd like that quite a lot.

If we're designing tournaments specifically to give me money, a PLO/PLO8 mix would be hot.

[HipHopBandit]

The field size argument, though initially compelling, doesn't really hold water. There are heads-up, PLO, bigger buy-in rebuy events & $10k events that don't get fields over 200, yet these remain on the schedule.
Also consider things historically with poker in Australia:
* The first few Aussie WSOP bracelets came in what events ... Seven card stud (Mel Judah in 1989 & Gary Benson in 1996)
* Jeff Lisandro won three bracelets at the WSOP last year, all in Stud ...
* In 2010 the only time people will play stud at the Aussie Millions is as part of the 8-game mix
* The original Australasian Poker Championships at Crown in 1998 had a main event ... that was a $1k limit holdem tourney
* Winner of the 2010 Aussie Millions Limit Holdem tourney Simon Morris also final tabled the $10k limit holdem at the WSOP & final tabled the 2008 LHE at the Aussie Millions ... so obviously one of the better limit holdem players in the world is in Australia ... and he has to play NLHE (along with the hundreds & thousands of others) at the Aussie Millions ...
* The PokerPro tables were used reasonably effectively last year to host smallish PLO8 & Seven Card Stud tourneys ... why not do something similar in 2011??

No-one is doubting the popularity of no-limit holdem, but isn't the Aussie Millions supposed to be the big POKER event in Australia, not just the big no-limit holdem event of the year??